Commissioners

Judge Pamila J. Brown, Chair, ABA Commission on Domestic Violence

Pamila J. Brown is an Associate Judge in the Tenth Judicial District for the District Court in Howard County, Maryland, having been appointed by the Governor in April 2002.  Judge Brown received her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law, after earning a B.S. in Political Science from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Brown served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland for fifteen years where she held the positions of Counsel to the Department of General Services, the State Highway Administration, and the State Treasurer.  Judge Brown has also served as an Assistant City Solicitor in the Labor and Education Division of the Baltimore City Law Department and as the Director of Inmate Legal Services at the Baltimore City Jail.

Judge Brown is the chair of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence and former chair of the ABA Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division and has served in the ABA House of Delegates as the Division Delegate.  She also has served on numerous Standing and Special committees and is currently serving on the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence.  Judge Brown has been a frequent lecturer locally and nationally on tort liability, litigation techniques, gender equality, trial advocacy and professionalism and she has been on the faculty of the Southeastern National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and a lecturer for the Defense Research Institute (DRI).  She has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Baltimore Law School. Judge Brown is also a Past President of the Bar Association of Baltimore City.

Judge Brown’s honors include being named as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by The Daily Record and the 2005 Leadership in Law Award, as well as being the recipient of the Alumnus of the Year at the University of Baltimore, the Office of the Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award and the Brent/ Mitchell Award from the Bar Association of Baltimore City.   She has also been recognized nationally and is the recipient of the American Bar Association Nelson Award for outstanding contributions by a Government Lawyer.  She resides in Columbia, Maryland with her husband and fourteen year old twins.

Allen M. Bailey

Allen M. Bailey, J.D., is a sole practitioner in Anchorage, Alaska.  He was a prosecutor for over ten years and has been a family lawyer since 1985.  Bailey has served on the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence since August 2006 and is on the board of directors of the Anchorage women’s shelter.

Bailey represents domestic violence survivors in divorce, child custody and protective order cases.  He co-authored Alaska’s statutory presumption against placing a child in the custody of an abusive parent; wrote “Child Custody Litigation Strategies” in The Impact of Domestic Violence on Your Legal Practice, ABA Commission on Domestic Violence, 2nd Ed. (2004); and reviewed two DV books for the Spring 2005 ABA Family Law Quarterly.  He earlier co-authored Alaska Drunk Driving Law (1983).

Bailey has been active in the ABA Family Law Section, is currently co-chair of the ABA-APA work group on abuse issues and is chair of the section’s Domestic Violence Committee.  A member of the Alaska Governor’s Domestic Violence Summit in 1997 and the Symposium on Children in Alaska’s Courts in 2004, Bailey also participated in the 2004 Alaska Summit on Violence Against Women and the 2005 Anchorage Interpersonal Violence Prevention and Intervention Conference.  He is co-chair of the Law and Legal Committee of the Anchorage Domestic Violence Caucus and a member of the Executive Committee of the Alaska Bar Association’s Family Law Section.

Judge Roberto Cañas, Jr.

Judge Cañas is the presiding judge of County Criminal Court #10, the first Latino to hold that position.  His court only hears domestic violence cases.  Judge Cañas has extensive experience with the issue of domestic violence both in and outside of the courtroom.  Immediately prior to becoming a judge, he was a prosecutor for almost eight years and prosecuted many cases involving domestic violence issues. 

Outside of the courtroom, Judge Cañas is active on the issue of domestic violence.  The President of the American Bar Association appointed him to the Commission on Domestic Violence, a national group of lawyers and judges who work to improve the legal profession’s response to domestic violence.  He has spoken to groups at SMU and in the community at-large about domestic violence.  He has also been asked to train other judges, prosecutors, probation officers and advocates about how the judicial system can better respond to the issue.

Judge Cañas also works on issues involving animal welfare issues and overall improvement of the legal profession.  In October, the Dallas City Council unanimously voted to appoint him to be vice-chair of the city’s Animal Shelter Commission.  In 2008, he and the commission will be working to improve the City’s code in regards to animals He is also on the board of directors for Operation Kindness, a leading no-kill animal shelter in North Texas. 

Within the legal profession, Judge Cañas has been elected several times to represent his fellow lawyers on the local, state and national level.  He has won several awards for his service and has been asked to be an officer of the DAYL Foundation in 2008.  He has spoken about professionalism and has been recognized for his professionalism several times, including being featured for an article about professionalism in the American Bar Association’s monthly magazine.

Judge Cañas graduated with his law degree from Texas Tech and his music degree from U.T. Austin.  He grew up in West Texas and is the child of two loving parents and brother to three younger siblings.  His girlfriend Tyler and he live in East Dallas and are companions to two loving, but not obedient, rescue dogs, Vinny and Chico.

Jean Crowe

Jean Crowe, Managing Attorney, Family Law Section, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, is a 1981 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.  She has a Diploma from the Institute on International and Comparative Law, Paris, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Northwestern University, Evanston.  She joined the Legal Aid Society in 1985, after four years in private practice in Madison, Wisconsin.  She is a leader in the field of family law and domestic violence and is a frequent presenter at local, state and national events. Currently she is serving on The ABA Commission on Domestic Violence, as liaison to the ABA Commission on the Renaissance of Idealism in the Profession and on the ABA Council for the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division. Among other bar leadership positions, she is chair of the Pro Bono Awards Committee and past Chair of the Domestic Violence Committee of American Bar Association’s Family Law Section.  She is also on the Board of Editors of the Family Law Quarterly.  In Tennessee, she has served as the state chair of the Domestic Relations section for the Tennessee Bar Association and is a current and long-term member of the Domestic Relations Code Commission. She served on the original Tennessee Child Support Commission, the Child Support Advisory Task Force and on the DHS Enhanced Child Support Enforcement Committee.  She helped found the Nashville Coalition of Domestic Violence and is currently Chair of its Board of Directors.  She was instrumental in establishing the Davidson County Domestic Violence Death Review Team and is its current Chair. She is a member of the Harry Phillips American Inn of Court.

Sarah Deer

Citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Sarah Deer is currently employed as Victim Advocacy Legal Specialist for the Tribal Law & Policy Institute in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is an online Instructor of Tribal Legal Studies at UCLA Extension and former Lecturer in Law at UCLA Law School. Formerly, Sarah worked as a Grant Program Specialist at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office on Violence Against Women in Washington, D.C.

Sarah received her J.D. with Tribal Lawyer Certificate from the University of Kansas School of Law and her B.A. in Women’s Studies and Philosophy from the University of Kansas. While a law student, Sarah was employed as Assistant Director of Douglas County Rape-Victim Survivor Service, Inc.

Sarah serves on advisory boards for numerous anti-violence organizations and projects, including the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence. Sarah is a co-author of two textbooks published by Alta Mira Press: Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies and Tribal Criminal Law and Procedure and co-editor of the forthcoming book, Sharing our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence.

Margaret Drew, Special Advisor, ABA Commission on Domestic Violence

Margaret Drew is Professor of Clinical Law and Director of the Domestic Violence and
Civil Protection Order Clinic at the University Of Cincinnati College of Law.  The clinic opened in the Fall of 2005 and is operated in partnership with Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati.

Margaret represented victims of violence in the district, family and appellate courts of Massachusetts for twenty-five years.  She was previously employed at Northeastern University School of Law Domestic Violence Clinic and taught as an adjunct, as well.  She taught Battered Women and the Law and Family Law Litigation. 

Areas of interest for Professor Drew are lawyer malpractice and ethical issues in domestic violence practice, financial control as abuse, as well as spiritual healing for victims of domestic violence and their advocates.

Margaret received her JD from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston and her LLM in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and in Ohio. 

Laura V. Farber

Laura V. Farber is a partner with Hahn & Hahn LLP and also serves as the firm's hiring partner.  She practices commercial and tort litigation with an emphasis on employment disputes, wrongful termination lawsuits on the basis of race, sex and age discrimination, and wage and hour disputes and issues.

Ms. Farber is a member of the American Bar Association where she serves on the Commission on Domestic Violence, Commission on Youth At Risk, General Practice, Solo Small Firm Division Council, Chair of the Tort Trial and Insurance Section Law in the Public Service Committee, House of Delegates Nominating and Select Committees, ABA Journal Board of Editors and Past Chair of the Young Lawyers Division.  She is also a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, State Bar of California, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, California Women Lawyers, National Association of Women Lawyers, Mexican-American Bar Association, Latina Lawyers Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Ms. Farber has been active in the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Domestic Violence Project where lawyers are trained and provide pro bono assistance in preparing restraining order applications for victims of domestic violence on site at the courthouses in downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena.  Ms. Farber has also participated in the Week Without Violence initiative of the YWCA in the San Gabriel Valley area.

Ms. Farber earned her J.D., cum laude, in 1990 from Georgetown University and her B.A., cum laude, in 1987 from University of California at Los Angeles.  She is admitted to the bars of California, the District of Columbia, Ninth and D.C. Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ms. Farber has been named one of the top 50 women lawyers in Los Angeles, featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal, received the 2003 American Bar Association’s Commission on Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Profession– Spirit of Excellence Award and the 2004 YWCA San Gabriel Valley Women of Excellence in the Law Award.

Honorable Elizabeth R. Finn

Judge Elizabeth R. Finn, Presiding Judge of Glendale City Court, has been a judge since 1979. She has served on many domestic violence committees including Chair of the City of Phoenix Interdisciplinary Committee on Domestic Violence and Chair of the Education Committee as well as a member of the Governor’s Commission on Violence Against Women. She was a founding member of the Supreme Court Committee on the Impact of Domestic Violence and the Court, serving many years as Chair and as a member. Judge Finn was the main author of the Benchbook for Orders of Protection/Injunctions Against Harassment that established standard policies, procedures and protective order forms. Most recently, she helped revised protective order forms to comply with Project Passport and was on of the main drafters of Arizona new protective order rules entitled Arizona Rules for Protective Order Procedure. She is a founding member and Chair of the Glendale Domestic Violence Taskforce. Judge Finn have written and successfully obtained and performed multiple Violence Against Women Act and STOP grants. Her court in Glendale may be the only one in the nation that provides a judge based monitoring docket for domestic violence offenders without any probation services.

Judge Finn was honored in 1998 as the outstanding limited jurisdiction judge in the nation by the American Bar Association awarding her the Franklin Flaschner Award and in 1999 as the outstanding judge in Arizona by the State Bar of Arizona awarding her the James Walsh award. She was named in 2000 one of the outstanding 100 Women and Minority Attorneys in Arizona’s history. For 2002, she was been named a recipient of the Martin Luther King Living the Dream Award and Outstanding Woman of the Year in the Public Sector by the YWCA. In March 2003, she was honored for Special Recognition by the ASU Law School Alumni Association. NTHSA, Governors Office for Highway Safety and MADD named her as the first recipient of the DUI Adjudication Judge for Judicial Education for the Year for 2005. She was elected in 2006 to the ABA Executive Committee for the National Conference of Specialized Court Judges representing eight states and is member of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence.

Judge Finn has represented the Supreme Court of Arizona in many conferences and has taught extensively in the area of DUI, domestic violence, gender and cultural diversity. She has moderated and participated in hundreds of education seminars on behalf of the State Bar of Arizona, the Arizona Supreme Court and other organizations. Judge Finn is recognized as one of the leading experts on domestic violence and DUI for the State of Arizona.

Julie Goldscheid

Julie Goldscheid, Associate Professor, holds a B.S. from Cornell, an M.S.W. from Hunter College School of Social Work, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was recently honored by the Law Alumni Association. In addition to clerking for the New Jersey Supreme Court, working at a private firm and teaching at both Penn State-Dickinson Law School and Brooklyn Law School, she spent six years at the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund; her last position there was Acting Legal Director. She has also served as General Counsel of Safe Horizon, an organization committed to victim assistance, advocacy, and violence prevention, where she oversaw its domestic violence law project and immigration law project. She has written widely about violence against women and is active in a number of organizations, including various Sections of the American Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Stonewall Foundation, and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Hetrick Martin Institute and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.

David J. Lansner

David J. Lansner graduated from the University of Rochester in 1968 and from NYU School of Law in 1971 and worked for legal services programs and the Legal Aid Society Juvenile Rights Division in New York City until 1979.  Since then he has been in private practice in New York.

In January, 1991, David and his wife, Carolyn A. Kubitschek, formed the law firm of Lansner & Kubitschek, which has eight attorneys, focuses on civil rights, family law and social security disability, and handles private divorce, custody, and support cases, as well as many pro bono and public interest cases for parents who are involved with the child welfare system and children who are the victims of mistreatment in foster care.  In 1981, in the landmark case of Doe v. Department of Social Services, they established that an abused foster child has a constitutional right to a safe foster home, and can sue the foster care agency for failing to protect her from a physically and sexually abusive foster father.  Courts throughout the country have adopted that precedent.  In 1994 they established due process rights for parents listed in the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (Valmonte v. Bane).  In 1999 they won a holding in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that ACS could not remove children from a parent without a court order except in the most extreme emergencies (Tenenbaum v. Williams). Their most recent major undertaking is Nicholson v. Williams, a class action on behalf of mothers who are victims of domestic violence whose children have been removed by ACS.  After the United States District Court held that New York City’s practice of prosecuting the victims of domestic violence was unconstitutional, the Second Circuit certified three questions to the New York Court of Appeals, which issued a sweeping decision on child welfare law upholding family rights and sharply limiting state intervention and delineating the requirements of due process hearings.

In addition to his work with the law firm, David also served part-time as Counsel to the New York State Assembly Committee on Children and Families from 1987 to 2000.  Since 2001, David has been Co-Chair of the New York State Child Protective Services Citizen Review Panel for New York City.  He chaired the annual program on “Child Abuse, Neglect and the Foster Care System” for the Practicing Law Institute 1997-2003. He is a consulting editor for Bender’s New York Civil Practice volumes on Matrimonial Actions and Family Court Proceedings.

David is currently Chair of the New York County Lawyers’ Association Committee on Committees and a member of the Board of Directors and previously chaired the Committee on Civil Rights. 

Reverend Al Miles

Rev. Al Miles received his undergraduate degree from Anderson University, and his Master of Divinity degree at the Anderson School of Theology. Both institutions are located in Anderson, Indiana. Since 1993, Miles has worked for Pacific Health Ministry at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu as the Coordinator of the Hospital Ministry Department. He speaks frequently to nationwide audiences from a wide variety of fields on domestic violence and teen dating abuse awareness. Rev. Miles has been an ordained minister in the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) since 1983.

PUBLICATIONS

Ending Violence in Teen Dating Relationships: A Resource Guide for Parents and Pastors (Augsburg Books, 2005)

Violence in Families: What Every Christian Needs To Know (Augsburg Books, 2002)

Domestic Violence: What Every Pastor Needs To Know (Fortress Press, 2000)
Translated into Japanese by The Board of Publications, The United Christ of Christ in Japan Tokyo, Japan 2005

Responding to Domestic Violence: An Interfaith Guide to Prevention and Intervention. By Elaine J. Alpert, MD, MPH; Reverend Al Miles; Vickii Coffey, MSA. (The Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network, 2005)

RECOGNITION

Recipient, Anderson University 2004 School of Theology Distinguished Alumni Award

Award of Excellence in the Topic of the Year: Children and Violence category from The Associated Church Press for the article “Preventing Child Abuse in Church” published in the March-April 1994 issue of The Christian Ministry, Chicago, Illinois

AFFILIATIONS

Board Certified Chaplain, the Association of Professional Chaplains

Clinical Member, the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.

Member, American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence

Member, National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women – 2002-2005

Member, Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence National Advisory Board

Member, Liz Claiborne, Inc. Advisory Board on Teen Dating Violence and Abuse

Member, Association of Pastoral Care Specialists of the Church of God

Member, Domestic Violence Transitional Housing Assistance Program Steering Committee

Marjorie A. O’Connell

Marjorie A. O’Connell is the founder of the Washington, D.C. law firm of O’Connell & Associates, which in 2007 celebrated the beginning of its “Fourth Decade”. She is a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates. Ms. O’Connell was an officer of the ABA Tax Section and served on its governing Council. She is a member of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence. She has served as Chair of the ABA Tax Section’s Domestic Relations Tax Problems Committee, and Vice-Chair of the ABA General Practice Section Tax Committee, Chair of the ABA Family Law Section Tax Committee, and Chair of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Divorce Taxation Committee. Ms. O’Connell served on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. She was Chair of the International Bar Association Family Law Committee. She served two terms as President of the National Foundation for Women’s Bar Associations, of the Women’s Bar Association Foundation of the District of Columbia and of the Foundation of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. Ms. O’Connell is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.

Ms. O’Connell is a member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the Washington, D.C. Estate Planning Council, and the Tax and the Family Law Sections of the District of Columbia Bar. She has served on the Federal Taxation and Finance Committee of the National Tax Association – Tax Institute of America, the Council on Taxation of the Federal Bar Association, the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the Taxation Task Force of the White House Conference on Small Business.

Ms. O’Connell has authored a federal tax loose-leaf service supplemented monthly, and numerous tax articles. She lectures regularly at national tax seminars. She has been a member of the District of Columbia bar since 1973. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center where she was the student Editor-in-Chief of The Tax Lawyer, the Journal of the ABA Section of Taxation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from The Catholic University of America, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Joan Zorza

Joan Zorza, Esq., the founding editor of both Domestic Violence Report and Sexual Assault Report, has written extensively on intimate partner violence and edited the three-volume book set, Violence Against Women (2006, 2004, 2002).  Ms. Zorza is a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence; on the boards of EVAW International and the Legal Resource Center on Violence Against Women; is an advisor to the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Leadership Council; and has consulted with the Department of Justice, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the American Medical Association;  reviewed grants for the National Institute of Justice, Office of Violence Against Women and Centers for Disease Control; addressed the United Nations on America’s laws involving women, advised the Canadian government on the America’s experience with their stalking and custody laws, testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on police arrest policies, and addressed the Irish health professions on implications of intimate partner violence.  A member of the bars of the District of Columbia, New York and Massachusetts, Ms. Zorza helped draft parts of the Violence Against Women Act including the full faith and credit mandate, the interstate domestic violence crimes and the confidentiality provisions, and represented more than 2,000 battered women and 100 child victims of incest.  The Department of Justice, the City of New York Human Resources Administration and the Sunshine Lady Foundation have awarded her for her work.

Liaisons

Sarah M. Buel

Sarah Buel has spent the past 30 years working with battered women, abused children, and juveniles within the legal system.  Currently, Ms. Buel is a Clinical Professor at the University of Texas School of Law, having started, then co-directing their Domestic Violence Clinic.  She also teaches “Domestic Violence and the Law,” criminal law, and torts courses.  Ms. Buel is co-founder of the University of Texas Voices Against Violence program that has developed a system of comprehensive, coordinated services for victims of sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking.  She also co-founded the University of Texas Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault that focuses on research, pedagogy, and direct services. She serves as the faculty supervisor for the Survivor Support Network (SSN), a group of law and business students assisting abuse victims to achieve economic literacy and security; and the student group, Society Encouraging Excellence Through Diversity (SEED), that sponsors educational programs encouraging discourse, scholarship, and action on issues of race and culture.  Professor Buel has served as Special Counsel for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, providing domestic violence training, technical, and case assistance to prosecutors throughout Texas.  For six years she was a prosecutor, most of that time with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office in Quincy, MA, helping to establish their award-winning domestic violence and juvenile programs.  Previously, Ms. Buel served as a victim advocate, state policy coordinator, and legal aid paralegal.

As a domestic violence survivor, Ms. Buel has been committed to improving the court and community response to abuse victims.  She was a welfare mother for a short time before working full time in the day and going to school at night for seven years to obtain her undergraduate degree in 1987.  She then graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990, where she founded the Harvard Battered Women’s Advocacy Project, the Harvard Women in Prison Project, and the Harvard Children and Family Rights Project.

Ms. Buel has written extensively on family violence issues, having published 30 articles and many more training manuals and diverse publications.  She is a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence, the Board of Directors of Texas CASA, the Texas Health Initiative on Domestic Violence Leadership Team, and numerous other boards and commissions.  She is also currently an adjunct professor at Harvard Medical School.

In 1991, Ms. Buel received the Boston Bar Association’s Public Service Award; and in 1992 she received both the Mass. Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer’s Award and the American Bar Association’s Top Twenty Young Lawyer’s Award. She narrated the 1992 Academy Award winning documentary “Defending Our Lives” and in 1996 was profiled by NBC as one of the five most inspiring women in America.  In 1997, Ms. Buel was awarded the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Public Service Award and in 1998, she was given The University of Texas Law Fellowships Public Service Award.  In 1999, Ms. Buel was given the National Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA) Allied Professional Award and was awarded the 2001 American Bar Association’s Fellows Award.  In 2002, she received the Harvard Law School Gary Bellow Public Service Award and in 2003 she was given an Outstanding Teacher Award from Harvard Medical School, as well as being selected to take part in Leadership Texas. In 2004, she received both the Texas Young Lawyers Award for Service to the Public, for co-founding the Austin Young Lawyers Association & Volunteer Legal Services Domestic Violence Project; the City of New York Outstanding Achievement Award; National Women’s History Project Award; and the U.T. Law School Thurgood Marshall Society Distinguished Lawyer Award.  In 2005, Professor Buel was given the Henry B. Gonzales Civil Rights Award by the Texas Civil Rights Project, and in 2007 was given both the Girl Scouts Woman of Distinction Award and the ABA Rule of Law Award for Pro Bono Service with the China Project.

She is most proud of her son, Jacey, who works with high-risk, violent teens in Boston schools while attending his second year of law school.

George B. Cauthen

George B. Cauthen is a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Columbia who is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law and a Certified Specialist in Consumer and Business Bankruptcy Law. He has worked extensively as counsel for Unsecured Creditors Committees and has served as a consultant for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Court to bankruptcy courts in New York and Puerto Rico. Internationally, he has served as a bankruptcy consultant in the Slovak Republic, in the Republic of Macedonia, and in the Republic of Armenia for USAID, and in Bulgaria for the World Bank.

Mr. Cauthen was instrumental in establishing a criminal domestic violence pro bono program in his Firm through the S.C. Attorney General's Office. Through the program, attorneys represent victims of criminal domestic violence in cases that otherwise might not be prosecuted because of heavy caseloads. As of December 2007, the pro bono program and its active volunteers had tried more than 1,900 cases in several South Carolina jurisdictions.

Mr. Cauthen has held numerous positions of leadership in the South Carolina Bar, including chair of the Pro Bono Program. He also has served as chair of the American College of Bankruptcy's Pro Bono Committee. In 2007 he was honored by the S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center with its Advocate of the Year award and with City Year Columbia's Idealist in Action Award for his commitment to helping others. He also has been honored with the South Carolina Oasis Award for Pro Bono Work, the South Carolina Bar Distinguished Service Award, the South Carolina Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year, and the state of South Carolina has awarded him the Order of the Palmetto award, the state's highest civilian honor.

Anne Crews

Since 1997, Anne Crews has served as Vice President, Government Relations, Mary Kay Inc.  Her responsibilities include analyzing federal, state(s), and local legislation and regulations and political trends to access their impact on corporate operations, the Mary Kay Independent sales force and employees affiliated with Mary Kay Inc.  Anne lobbies to propose, oppose or amend pertinent legislation and develops working relationships with other companies, business and trade associations in order to form coalitions that foster corporate interest.  She is responsible for such activities related to Mary Kay operations throughout the Americas.  She reviews and helps determine Mary Kay corporate product and financial contribution requests.  Anne serves on the Board of Directors, Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.

Anne joined Mary Kay Inc. in 1983 as Coordinator, Public Affairs.  She previously served as Press Assistant to Texas Governor Bill Clements during his first administration, following her work as a television news reporter/anchor at KMID-TV in Midland, Texas.  Anne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rollins College.

She represents Mary Kay Inc. on the Board of Directors, Council of Better Business Bureaus, Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, National Network to End Domestic Violence Fund, and Rollins College Alumni Association. In 2006, she was reappointed to serve on the National Advisory Committee, Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice.  Anne is Mary Kay Inc.’s Direct Selling Association (DSA) Code of Ethics Responsibility Officer, dealing with the Company’s ongoing compliance with the industry Code.

Anne is a member, Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, a Sustaining member, Junior League of Dallas, Inc., and a 1985 Leadership Texas program participant. In 2006, Anne was named one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” by Women’s eNews, for advocacy against domestic violence.

Honorable James M. Riehl

Judge Riehl is a Kitsap County District Court Judge and has served in this capacity since 1983. He resides in Port Orchard, Washington with his wife, Carol, and their 6 year old twins, Benjamin and Emily. He also has a grown daughter, Allison, who resides and works in Seattle, Washington. Judge Riehl was raised in Poulsbo and graduated from North Kitsap High School. A graduate of Western Washington University, Riehl returned to teach for one year at North Kitsap High School. A graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law in 1975, Riehl practiced law in Kitsap County from 1975 through 1982 at which time he was elected to the bench.

Judge Riehl served as the President of the Washington State District and Municipal Court Judges Association from 1995-1996. He is a former member and past co-chair of the Board for Judicial Administration, which is responsible for setting policy for the judiciary of the State of Washington and is a member of the Washington State Gender and Justice Commission. In 1996, the Washington State Misdemeanant Corrections Association named Judge Riehl “Judge of the Year”. In 1997 he organized the first ever Kitsap County Domestic Violence Summit, which brought together the community to address the issue of domestic violence. In 2003 he was instrumental in obtaining a federal grant for Kitsap District Court to resolve inconsistent provisions of multiple domestic violence protection orders. He currently sits as the judge hearing those cases.

Judge Riehl also has been active on the national level and currently serves as Chair of the National Conference of Specialized Court Judges of the American Bar Association, as well as the Judicial Division liaison to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence. He currently chairs the Editorial Board of the ABA Judges’ Journal. Riehl served as the American Bar Association’s advisor to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws that drafted a model law for purposes of enforcing domestic violence protection orders nationwide.

Riehl is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Judicial College located in Reno, Nevada and has served as a past Dean for the Judicial College for the State of Washington.

Robin Hassler Thompson

Robin Hassler Thompson, J.D., of Robin H. Thompson and Associates, consults with a wide range of clients including universities, state and national public policy and human rights advocacy groups, and international law firms. Her work includes domestic and sexual violence law and policy analysis, Violence Against Women Act implementation, adult domestic violence fatality reviews, workplace violence law and policy, health care issues and human trafficking.  Services provided by her firm include policy development and analysis, meeting planning and organization, public speaking, strategic planning, and program evaluation.

In 2001, she traveled to Bangladesh as a part of a US State Department mission, which included a site visit to a trafficking rescue shelter in Dhaka.  From 2002 to the present, she has directed numerous statewide anti-trafficking projects, for the Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center and for the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. These projects involve outreach, research, training and technical assistance, as well as project organization and implementation.  On the topic of human trafficking, Robin has lectured extensively on the topic and written for both national and international publications. She served on the Family Violence Prevention Fund’s Trafficking Advisory Committee, and co-chaired the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence Trafficking Committee. 

Prior to beginning her work on human trafficking, Robin has served as the Executive Director for the Florida Governor's Task Force on Domestic and Sexual Violence. At the request of the U. S. Department of Justice, Robin served on the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women.  She graduated from Florida State University College of Law in Tallahassee, Florida in 1984.  In addition to her law degree, she holds an M.A. from Florida State University and a B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C. where she graduated summa cum laude in 1981.

Nina Zollo

Nina Zollo, Esq., is the Vice President of Legal and Policy for the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  Her primary focus is on public policy, legislative, and confidentiality and privilege issues.  She also provides training and technical assistance to advocates, lawyers, and other professionals.  Nina is a former partner at the law firm of Holland & Knight, where she practiced health care law, and served as pro bono counsel to Refuge House, a certified domestic violence center.  After receiving her JD from the University of Florida School of Law in 1988, she was a law clerk for United States District Judge William Castagna in Tampa, and then worked for three years with Three Rivers Legal Services in rural North Central Florida. Nina has an undergraduate degree in English from Princeton University.